Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

[S&S RR]

Here is a picture of the last two sections going under the layout to complete the helix and start the long journey to the other side of the layout.

[S&S RR]

The straighter section will start the journey through this tunnel.  You can see the start of the supports along the right hand side.  It will attach along side the power conduit.  I actually got this section completed today but a picture will wait until I crawl under the layout tomorrow.

[S&S RR]

The wall you see at the end of this tunnel is 20 feet away. At that point the track will take a 90 degree turn and run another 20 feet. Then another 90 degree turn and 30 feet of straight. Finally, it will turn another 90 degrees run 10 more feet and start up the helix on the other side of the layout. I will be making up 6 foot long sections to complete this track work.  The first one took about  an hour to build and another  2 hours to install.  So I have some work ahead of me to get to the second helix. I also have to connect all of the drop wires that you see hanging in the pictures to the main buss wires.

[sdrees]

Great progress your making John.  You just gave me an idea of how I am going to keep trains from falling to the floor from derailments in the hidden track area.

[S&S RR]

Great progress your making John.  You just gave me an idea of how I am going to keep trains from falling to the floor from derailments in the hidden track area.

Steve


Thanks for stopping by the thread.  I think you will be glad you used the guard rails,  most of the problems occur where you can't see the trains.  I know they have saved me some money.  The biggest issue when you are working on a layout is having stuff get pushed into an area where you can't see it and causing a derailment.

[deemery]

John, is that blue pipe electrical conduit, or water lines?  If the latter, you should make sure it's not that nasty polybutelyne stuff that we had in our house (and ultimately had to rip out - replacing -every water line- was NO FUN.)


dave

[S&S RR]

John, is that blue pipe electrical conduit, or water lines?  If the latter, you should make sure it's not that nasty polybutelyne stuff that we had in our house (and ultimately had to rip out - replacing -every water line- was NO FUN.)


dave

Hi Dave


Thanks for stopping by the thread.


Those are electrical conduits.  Actually, they are the wires for the power switches for the main control panel. The only time they are hot is when the train room power is on. All of the water lines in our house are copper.  The white plastic pipe is a drain line for the kitchen and laundry room floor drains.

[deemery]

Glad to hear that.  No one should have to go through what we endured. 


dave

[S&S RR]

Today, I spent a few hours making up the six foot sections of track.  I have three ready to install. I think I will continue the under the layout work for a few more days and then switch to the top side upper levels for a change of pace.  It seems like your making more progress when the work can be seen.

[S&S RR]

Well, tonight I can report that we have turned the corner.  I completed the track work along the first tunnel and have turned the corner and made it 6 feet on the other side.

[S&S RR]

Here is a picture from topside - construction of one of the straight sections.





The corner we are working in is the same corner that is in this top side photograph.

[S&S RR]

I'm using a wood side rail on one side to mount with and to keep the wood from warping.  I still have to add the artist board guard rail to the other side of this section when the track and wiring are complete.

[S&S RR]

I spent the day yesterday cutting away old benchwork underneath the layout to make room for the next phase of my return loop project. I will try to get a few pictures to post this afternoon. I filled the 6 gallon shop vac with sawdust.

[S&S RR]

My back feels like I spent the whole day yesterday cutting overhead. Why do I try to do these projects all at once?

[S&S RR]

Today, I spent most of my time working on the projects on top of the bench work.  I finally got back to the Trains of Texas brick wall castings. I promised Tom Boyd  I would document the steps I go through to make molds and castings so tonight I'm posting a few pictures of my mold making procedure. This is the way I do it - and as they say in the fine print your results may vary.  I learned and relearned this process over the past 20 years or so but I think the best instructions I have seen are the videos that Dave Frary put out.